Should the Stupak Amendment on Abortion Funding Be Part of the Healthcare Bill?

Should federal funds be legally banned for abortions in the new health reform law?

December 4, 2009 RSS Feed Print

Abortion funding has become a key issue in the healthcare reform debate. At issue is an approach pushed by Rep. Bart Stupak that bars the use of federal funds to pay for them. Abortion rights advocates say it is overly restrictive. In the most recent edition of U.S. News Weekly, Stupak, a Democrat from Michigan, defends his bill, while California Democratic Rep. Lois Capps argues against it. What do you think? Should the Stupak amendment become law? Read the debate, take our poll and post your thoughts below.

Should the Stupak Amendment Be Included in Health Reform Legislation?



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Previously: Will President Obama's Afghanistan Strategy Work?

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the hyde amendment, to the chagrin of those who are pro-choice, actually complements roe in a legal sense.

roe dictates the right to privacy. people, legally, are not allowed to interfere in a woman's decision to terminate a pregnancy because it's nobody else's business. but hyde KEEPS THE PUBLIC OUT of that decision. women who choose abortion are really hard pressed to say "Butt out!!!....but you can PAY FOR IT!".

just because women have the right to abortion and it is a feminist issue, does not inherently make it a HEALTHCARE issue in each and every instance. not all choices people make with their own bodies are necessarily related to their health, and that is why health insurance, for as scummy as the industry is, doesn't cover everything. this is the conflation of "wants" with "needs".

middlegrounder of CO 1:52AM March 27, 2010

Inserting abortion in the health care discussion is out of place. The Catholic Bishops have joined right wing Protestants on the abortion band wagon. Abortion along with homosexuality have become central themes in the theology of those who espouse Christianity. Christianity is supposed to follow Christ's teachings but these are two subjects about which Christ had little or nothing to say while he spoke hundreds of times about helping the poor and the ailing. If these people were true Christians they would ease back on the abortion propaganda and stick to Christ's message. Abortion and homosexuality are hot button and emotionsal issues to fill the collection plate and take peoples minds off real issues of society.

Kenneth Viste of ID 11:30PM December 12, 2009

It really gets to me when people equate abortion to health care. Except in cases of serious danger to the mother's life or physical health, abortions have nothing to do with health care. What they do concern is the mother's Roe v. Wade right to kill her baby up to a somewhat poorly defined point in his or her development. No one should have to pay directly or indirectly for killing a baby.

Robert Frary of NM 5:36PM December 11, 2009

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